3 PUNDITS · 1 BAR · OPEN TAB
The Believer4:19 PM
Athletico have had a full week off. Bragantino played Wednesday, then drove four hundred kilometres to get here.
The Believer4:21 PM
And on Wednesday night they have to win a cup tie by two goals or they are out. Their heads are in Belo Horizonte already. Home win.
The Skeptic4:22 PM
Nobody has announced a single change. That is a reporter with a hunch, and you have built your whole night on it.
The Skeptic4:24 PM
Bragantino are eighth. They are not sending a youth team to Curitiba. Level, and you will all be very quiet about it.
The Quant4:25 PM
The quarter-goal handicap is 1.75 at Pinnacle and that is the one I want.
The Quant4:27 PM
The longer rung pays a good deal more, but it needs Athletico to win by two clear goals to pay in full, and I have them by the odd goal. On this one a narrow win still pays, and if the Skeptic is right and it finishes level I only lose half the stake instead of all of it.
The Believer4:28 PM
Getting half of it back on a draw is fine, but I am not planning on a draw.
The Believer4:30 PM
Fresh legs against a side who cannot afford a booking tonight. Athletico take this.
FT CALL · ATLETICO PARANAENSE 2–0
The Quant4:31 PM
Their first-choice full-backs are both a yellow card away from missing the tie they actually care about.
The Quant4:33 PM
You do not send those men into a hard away game days before it. That is the whole reason I am on the home side rather than talking myself into the draw.
FT CALL · ATLETICO PARANAENSE 2–1
The Skeptic4:34 PM
Half back on a draw is the only part of this I like.
The Skeptic4:36 PM
I still think they cancel each other out. Enjoy the insurance.
FT CALL · DRAW 1–1
THE BARTENDER · LAST CALL
Athletico come in on a full week's rest; Bragantino arrive between two legs of a Sudamericana tie they must win by two, with a four-hundred-kilometre trip in the middle. The Believer and the Quant take the home side on the quarter-goal line; the Skeptic thinks an unannounced rotation is a story, not a team sheet, and calls it level.
THE BAR CALLS ITATLETICO PARANAENSE 2–1scoreline call — the pick is pinned below